


The Leaves in Vermont

by marvelous_inactive



Category: Boy Meets World
Genre: F/M, Love and Drama, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, So Much Angst Before the Happy Ending, not GMW canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-05 14:56:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13390251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marvelous_inactive/pseuds/marvelous_inactive
Summary: When Cory Matthews was young and didn't understand anything about his entire life, he made a promise.Now, Topanga's finally convinced that Cory's interest is geared elsewhere, and Cory is convinced that his life is officially over.Copious amounts of free time turn into spending even more time with Shawn, and Cory starts to wonder if he'll ever be able to cash in that promise.





	1. A Wholehearted Promise

It didn't seem to matter to Cory and Shawn that it was freezing outside, nor the fact that it was past their bedtimes and they should be getting inside their living spaces. The only thing that crossed their minds was that there were massive piles of dead brown leaves in Cory's backyard that were just screaming at them both to play in their decayed forms.

Shawn had insisted that they fill their hands with the earthy soil and crunchy leaves and have a leaf fight. Cory had hesitated, thinking of how much trouble they would get in if they were caught by Cory's parents, or god forbid, the creepy old man who lived next door.

Cory vaguely remembered his parents having a conversation about the mentioned old man one morning during breakfast. He'd caught something along the lines of 'kindergarten teacher,' before he had fallen asleep in his cereal and gotten milk up his nose, much to the amusement of his demon of an older brother and the horror of Amy and Alan who would scold Cory about staying up late after they'd gotten Captain Crunch out of his flaming nostril.

When he'd told Shawn the story, he'd laughed and called him an 'idiot savant,' which lead to a conversation on the origin of the phrase. Shawn's father had called him the name on multiple occasions after coming back to the trailer park late in the night.

Shawn said that Chet had acted funny every night he'd come home past Shawn's bedtime. His posture was down in the dumps and his breath smelled bitter when he'd kissed Shawn goodnight on the forehead. Shawn had also said his mother smelled the same, more often than not.

Cory had taken Shawn outside before he'd told him, though, after Shawn had exclaimed to him that he didn't want Cory's parents to hear.

After they had seen the leaves and gotten the idea of _fun_ and _dirt_ stuck in their undeveloped minds, they began to attempt to throw the leaves at each other.

They were becoming increasingly frustrated with the fact that leaves did not travel easily when thrown, and endeavored flinging turned into chasing each other around Cory's backyard and rubbing the residue of dust and grime on each other's clean jackets if they were fast enough to catch the other.

Eventually, the exhaustion of sprinting around the large space overtook their bodies and they both climbed in and collapsed in the treehouse. They were both inhaling large breaths as if they couldn't get enough oxygen into their lungs. Shawn's hand came up to cover his heart.

"Wow, Matthews. You sure do have a high metabolism."

Cory looked over at him with a confused look on his face. "Metabolism?"

Shawn took a generous breath before clarifying. "It was on my mom's 'Word of The Day' calendar," he digs his wrists into his eyes and yawns, "she keeps one in her purse for me to doodle on when I get nervous."

Cory yawns with him. The overwhelming urge to curl up in a ball and fall asleep in the treehouse with Shawn was prominent but easily ignorable. The rough wood beneath Cory's back was uncomfortable and he shifted, trying to find a better position to lay in. He found himself edging closer to Shawn.

Shawn took his hand off his chest and looked at his palm. It was completely covered in dirt with some spots slightly wet from the moisture of the ground. His shirt had a dirty hand-print from him covering his heart. Even Shawn's cheeks were splattered with muddy patches of earth that were already crusting over. Shawn moved his thumb over the lightly damp spot after noticing where Cory's attention was focused and watched the residue fall to the floor.

"Those leaves are disgusting."

Cory nodded his head in agreement. The number of bugs and parasites that were probably living in the very leaflets they were playing with was unthinkable. That combined with the fact that it was almost below freezing outside in Philadelphia that night and Cory wouldn't be surprised if he and Shawn got sick afterward.

Maybe then they wouldn't have to go to school and they could spend the day together doing the exact same thing. Maybe, somehow, Cory could clean the leaves so they wouldn't get them sick anymore and provide them to Shawn as a present of some sort. That would make Shawn happy.

"My dad says the leaves in Vermont are prettier."

When Cory gives Shawn another questioning look, Shawn sighs. "Catch up, Cor, _Vermont._ " Shawn twiddles with his thumb and his forefinger, a crease between his eyebrows like he's trying to remember something.

"My dad told me that when the leaves change, they turn into really pretty colors," he sits up, "they aren't brown like yours are, Cor."

Cory sits up with him and scoots back against the wall of the treehouse. He pats the spot next to him with an expectant glance on his face and Shawn shimmies back as well. When they are thigh to thigh, Cory makes the promise.

"I'll take you to see the leaves in Vermont, then."

Shawn laughs deep in his chest and pats Cory's shoulder affectionately. "Thanks, Cor."

"I'm serious, Shawnie! I'll whisk you away to Vermont on my bike and we'll see the leaves together!" Cory's face was full of enthusiasm as he said the words, his eyes getting wider with each thought of getting out of Philadelphia and taking Shawn with him.

"My dad took off the training wheels on my bike, Shawnie. We can really do this."

Shawn gives another giggle and his hair falls in his eyes. He brushes it back with the tips of his fingers and sighs. "Alright, Cor, but not tonight. I'm tired, man." He stretches his arms over his head and squints his eyes shut. He brought his hands down and stuck his pinkie out next to Cory's hand. "Promise?"

Cory smiled widely, his pearly-white brights shining through his lips and his cheeks turning the slightest tint of pink before he linked his own pinkie with Shawn's.

"I promise."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to my attempt at a chaptered Boy Meets World fic! I'll be trying to post whenever I can, but I am known to rarely finish my fanfics. Thanks for sticking with me!


	2. How Did We End Up Here? - Part 1

The lingering touches that Cory's being leaving on Shawn's skin were starting to creep their way into Topanga's mind. Throughout Mr. Turner's rant on famous poets' greatest works, the faint sounds of giggles and teasing whispers from behind her filled her ears. Eventually, Turner called Cory and Shawn out for disrupting the class with their excessive laughter, which resulted in detention for the both of them.

Which meant more of Cory and Shawn being alone together.

Of course, being best friends for thirteen years had the perks of being extra comfortable with touching each other, but Topanga thought it was getting out of hand.

She was okay with it at first. The simple brushes of their hands together while walking down the hallway to their next class or to meet up with her was noticeable, but not something to obsess over. The fact that Topanga had climbed the treehouse one night to find them curled up against each other in Cory's bed, snoring into each other's hair and neck, however, was a bit more prominent.

But what pushed Topanga off the edge was Cory's constant habit of stroking Shawn's thigh.

Cory had never once done that to her, whether because of the fact that Topanga would bite his face off the second he went anywhere near her nether regions or because it was just a Cory-and-Shawn thing.

Every once in awhile, Topanga would walk into Cory's room and see them sitting thigh-to-thigh and Cory would have his thumb rubbing over the material of Shawn's jeans way above the knee. Topanga would go off if Cory's hand went higher. Luckily, she'd never seen it above Shawn's mid-thigh.

She'd try to wrap her head around the situation, asking herself if all guy best friends were that comfortable with each other. Not once could Topanga name another set of friends who would engage in that kind of physical closeness.

She tried to not let it bother her when Shawn started resting his head on Cory's shoulders like Topanga had done to Cory so many times before.

She tried not to think about how Cory had laid his head on top of Shawn's and breathed in, his shoulders relaxing and his eyes fluttering closed until a night of supposed studying became an unintentional sleepover.

But she'd seen the way Cory had looked at Shawn when he'd laid his head down. Fond eyes with a small smile lifting the edge of his lips and an exhale that released all the tension from Cory's body. The image burned itself into Topanga's memory and refused to let go.

In the end, Topanga reluctantly racked it all down to lack of boundaries.

 

* * *

 

Cory had finally accepted (after many hours of frustrating remarks from Shawn signaling that he was right) that Shawn _was_ completely right. The seemingly endless, tortuous studying they were required to do to at least make a B on their test next week was weighing a vast weight on both of their shoulders. Shawn tossed the television remote over to Cory's side of the bed.

 _Cory's side of the bed._ Because they have sides.

Because Shawn's slept more in Cory's bed than his own hard lump of rock in his trailer.

Cory had expressed that he had no problem with Shawn's presence multiple times. Shawn's concerns for Cory's personal space and alone time overrode his need for a comfortable place to sleep. But Cory's rambling and worrying about sending Shawn away in the cold convinces him to stay at the Matthew's far more than he should.

Cory turns on the television and Shawn comes to lay by him in silence with the volume playing low and giving off a slight hum. Cory had left his window open, letting a light breeze into the room that picked the leaves off the top of the treehouse and sent them flying into his room. The curtains were swaying from side to side and rubbing against the wall, a calming sound coming from the fabric.

Their textbooks were long forgotten.

"Do y'know Robert Frost, Cor?" Shawn said sleepily. His breathing was slowing down and his speech was slurring slightly, although you wouldn't be able to notice unless you paid close attention. "He's the poet guy, right?" Cory asked, jumping slightly when he heard Eric's door shut from across the hallway outside his room. He settled back in, sliding down the bed until his head was held by the pillow and Shawn was sitting cross-legged beside him.

Shawn snorted. "Yes, he's the _poet guy._ " Shawn reached his body over the edge of the bed and shuffled around for a bit before he came back up with a book of some sort, the spine broken and the pages almost falling out of their places. He handed the beaten-up book to Cory. "It's a collection of his most recognized works. They're remarkable, Cory. I've never seen someone write with so much passion. "

"Since when were you into poetry?" Cory asked.

"This is what Turner's spiel was about today. Don't you ever pay attention in class?"

Cory punched Shawn's leg lightly. He hesitantly splayed his fingers across the textile of Shawn's worn-out jeans. "I was a little distracted by your consistent tapping me on the shoulder for advice on your paper and then making jokes when I tried to help you out, thank you very much."

"Cory, nobody in the history of anyone ever used the word _tushie_ in their essay to describe someone's ass."

Cory's mouth gaped open at the use of language and he turned his head up to stare at Shawn with a look of horror. "Do you talk to your mother with that mouth?"

Cory froze, his breath stopped in the middle of an exhale. His lungs felt like they were on fire, but he didn't dare move in fear of something so minute scaring Shawn off. Shawn's eyes were glazed over and he was staring out Cory's window, taking in steady breaths but not saying a word.

"I'm sorry."

That seemed to snap Shawn out of whatever daze he was in and he smiled slightly at Cory's frightened face. "It's alright, Cor."

Cory's regular breathing patterns started again, and his tensed joints relaxed once more. Shawn's body came to lay down next to his, their heads on the same pillow and Shawn nested his head in the nook of Cory's shoulder. Cory breathed in the scent of grapefruit and a faint trace of mint. For a trailer boy, Shawn's family could sure afford some nice smelling shampoo.

Cory pulled his chin up to rest on top of Shawn's head and looked down at the exhausted boy beneath him. Shawn's eyelashes fluttered closed against Cory's neck and Cory fell asleep to the soft, cold breaths traveling down his spine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These couple next chapters will be a bit of backstory/prominent events in Shawn and Cory's relationship. I'll hopefully be getting into the main storyline soon. :)


End file.
